Sunday, February 13, 2011

The US State Department announced on Saturday that the trilateral meeting of Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United States on 23-24 February in Washington has been postponed, XinhuaNet reported.

The relationship between the US and Pakistan has been strained over the alleged murder of two Pakistanis by US diplomat Raymond Davis who was said to have gunned down the two in Lahore to defend himself on 27 January.

It was also reported that all high-level US-Pakistan meetings were suspended. Several lawmakers have threatened the suspension of aid to Pakistan if the 36-year-old Davis were not freed.

Despite US pressure to Pakistan to release Davis on the background of diplomatic immunity, Pakistani officials remained firm to investigate the case against the American.

Reports say that Davis has no diplomatic visa and therefore cannot claim immunity. There were also claims that he did not kill the two men in self-defense.